Bio: Clone troopers were an army of identical, genetically-modified clones, created to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic during the conflict that came to be known as the Clone Wars. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' TV tray.

Commentary: The Clone Trooper 2010 "vintage" figure is an interesting beast because it makes huge improvements but still isn't quite great. This is one of those irritating issues where Hasbro approaches nailing the perfect Clone Trooper but just falls short. The plain white version of the figure is, for all intents and purposes, meant to be the best sculpt Hasbro has ever done-- to some degree, it is. There are a few shortcomings on deco, though, which is not ideal when dealing with the plainest version of the warrior. The most obvious absence is the black stripe above his visor, which admittedly is a minor detail but when it comes to the "face" it's hard to let this kind of detail go. The fact that the figure has a removable helmet is also annoying, but that's more of a personal preference. (For the generic guys, I find removable helmets overkill. If I don't see their faces in the movies, I don't need to see them in the toys, plus the proportions are a smidgen off.)

The sculpt itself is pretty cool-- it's a mix of the legendary 2005 Clone Trooper and the pretty spiffy 2009 Gelagrub Clone Trooper, combining most of the best parts from both. The figure now has ball jointed hips which on the whole work great, plus the "standard" articulation from a normal 14-joint release. As Clones go, this is pretty darned poseable and certainly worthy of a slight premium price. While pivot wrists would be nice, well, I'm sure we'll see more of those later on a future rerelease. The figure is indeed a significant engineering improvement over the 2005 body, but the deco (and the size of your army) may prevent you from wanting to buy a ton of them. Get at least one, though, or wait for the inevitable repaints.

Collector's Notes: While popular, Hasbro in 2010 seems to have nailed making figures at the right quantity-- you shouldn't have too much problem getting this figure for its retail price now.

2 comments:

they've changed the helmets and added the black stripe on the visor. also they corrected the yellowing problem. but i agree, with the removable helmet his head looks way too big. also thats the same clone head sculpt they've been using since 2005. a new head without that goofy look on his face would have been nice.

Disclaimer

Figures presented in this column were purchased privately by the author or are provided courtesy Hasbro, Hunter PR, Entertainment Earth, or elsewhere. Items are part of the staff archives and are not for sale.

About Me

Adam Pawlus has written about Star Wars action figures, toys, and collectibles on the web since 1995. He has worked for a variety of magazines and websites and presently works as a Toy Evangelist / Buyer for Entertainment Earth. He also loves Jolt.